Feelin like ...?

I'm not saying its swine flu...
But my nose is running, and I'm eating like a pig...

The Cat that got the ... er Cake

Yesterday was Mr Busy's birthday. We have a little tradition in our family, that you can pick whatever you want for dinner on your birthday. Roast Chicken was ordered, and being the dutiful wife, I thought I would make a lovely choclate cake as well. Its becoming quite famous this chocolate cake, and I have made about a thousand of them to date.

The following events took place at 2.45pm ...

Bake Cake and leave on the bench to cool.
Muck about, go upstairs, answer phone, and have rather long conversation with my sister in law. Cat (Cleo) ambles past, giving a bit of a stretch in a sunny spot after spending all day curled up on my bed, which at this point is still unmade, due to not wanting to "disturb" the said cat.
As I wander downstairs the cat is nowhere in sight, but a quarter of the cake is missing! Yes you heard. A QUARTER of the cake!

No she didn't cut herself a piece. This was after I tried to rescue it, by cutting out offending mauled area. My sister in law asked me what sort of cat eats cake? I told her a hungry one.


And here we have the suspect, wondering what the heck all the fuss is about. What can I say? She was an orphaned stray that we got at 6 weeks old, and who the Busy family thinks is the cleverest, cutest, and most loving cat to walk the earth. And what did she have for dinner. Roast chicken like the rest of the family of course!

Watcha Wearing Wednesday

Okay it's so boring and almost as unflattering as you can get but here goes....
Definately a could do better, and I'm not good at taking photos of myself, especially when the 3 chins try to muscle in on the act. Dear Fi remembers every Wednesday and I have been meaning to post but keep forgetting. I also tried to put the WWW button on my side bar and failed - miserably, because even though my friends think I'm a real whizz on the pewta, I'm really not, and for any of you gals who might be reading my blog. See. I'm not as clever as I look. (And I don't even look that clever!)



Brown polo neck, and Brown jumper over the top, because its freezing today, and Im still not warm! Brown raggy old bleach stained velour tracky's, and to finish off my higly polished look, a pair of dangy old Asics trainers, who's only form of support is the where the laces do up.

Brown Brown and more Brown... So I took a photo of the strides against the blue lino in the bathroom, just to keep you awake. Also trying to suck my guts in, but again failing miserably...


Getting me hair done next Wednesday so hopefully I might scrub up a bit better then. If I remember...!

Time to trash the room...

Got the office nice and tidy, and then felt the urge to mess it up. So ...

Another boxy pouch bag thingy. Its quite cute and has pink and white stripes inside. I put a little ribbon tag thingy sticking out of the side, like the professionals do to make it look - well professional I suppose!

This was for my niece Annabelle, who is really more like a cousin/sister, because I'm only 6 years older than her. Short version of the explanation is: I am the youngest of six, and to put it in perspective, my oldest sibling is 18 years my senior! Hence the closeness in age to my nieces and nephews! I really don't like being called Aunty either!

And for Annabelles daughter Julia, to pad out her 8th Birthday present a bit, I whipped up these little drawer sachets. They smell like Vanilla buttercream cupcakes. I just left the edges raw, because they can look good all frayed, and you know I'm lazy, and I dont have any pinking shears! I must get some, but have you seen the price of them!!

I have been busting to use this fabric, but have a phobia of cutting into a new piece, but looking at all the fabric I have when I was tidying might have altered something!

You would think it's spring - yeah right!

In fact on the 1st of June it is officially the first day of winter, but it's been pretty brass monkeys around here lately, and everything looks a mess outside and I have to say it does inside as well, so on that note I shall walk you through my funspace (office/sewing room). You see everytime I walk in here I think I was just becoming more depressed with the state of it, so with Saturday morning vigour I went for it. It didn't start out as a full scale attack, but just a bit of a go at the buttons, because any minute now I was going to knock them over and then end up with a pin in my knee while kneeling down trying to pick them up, and we all know what that feels like, so it was time for a pre-emptive attack...

It was one of those situations where everything was so precariously balanced on top of a slippery plastic bag, that it all threatened to go shooting across the floor should you breath near it.


You know I'm almost too embarassed to show you, but I'm keepin it real ...

In a previous life this was known as a "fabric stash". More like fabric trashed!

and I kind of knew where everything was, but I only mean kind of knew.

And here is the reason I get myself in this situation in the first place

So this ...

became this

and this was never going to work

so became ...

Not quite there...

but by the magic of television...

And because I'm so honest I am going to show you my dirty little secret, but it's just between you and me, okay?

My little cupboard under the stairs, which would give even Harry Potters rellies, The Dursleys nightmares!

And of course there is the post battle carnage to clear up...

...because I can hear Mr Busy muttering something about "someone breaking a leg on these stairs in a minute".

But to be honest I think I might need a bit of a lie down, because I'm shattered

Gotcha! Your'e It

Emma over at Jellybelly*Jellybrain has tagged me. I haven't been tagged before except that time in Form Two at Pasadena Intermediate, when the girls played ball tiggy with the boys, and they chucked the tennis ball so hard at us that we got branded. But that's all in the past now and the therapy really seemed to help with my aversion to "running around" sports, and I can now sit on the couch and watch rugby with hardly any panic attacks at all.
So the deal is that I tell you 8 things about meself... so here goes...

8 Things I'm looking forward to...
Doing nothing today after a frantic week and weekend.
Attending my nieces wedding at Mantells in July.
Heading off to Rotorua for a weekend break with Busy husband and small Busy's.
Getting some crafty stuff underway.
Summer. Don't even go there its only Autumn and I am totally over it!
Spending some quality time with friends that we have owed a dinner to for ages.
Cracking open a bottle of vino with said friends.
Holding a bit of a do for Mikes Nephew and his lovely girlfriend, when they come back from Oz.

8 Things I did yesterday...
*Got up at 7.00 and made a pancake brekkie for the family.
*Made a big casserole to feed the multitudes.
*Baked a chocolate cake, for the after match function for Little Busy Daughters First Holy Communion, and helped Mr Busy make Club sandwiches.
*Organised the Busy Family's clothes for the above event. (Because Mr Busy would rock up to Mass in his Rugby jersey and ratty jeans. You think I'm joking don't you?).
*Raced down to Church to set up the Parish Centre for the Communion Breakfast (which I refer to as the after match function), only to find out it was full of people having a grand old time with lots of food and cups of tea. Plan C was quickly put into action, and required a great deal of re-jigging of timetable.
*Raced back home.
*Attacked Little Busy Daughter's hair with straighteners, ribbon, and tulle and flowers.
*Attended 6.30pm Mass at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church in Howick, and was very proud of Little Busy daughter for not making a face when she took communion wine.

8 Things I wish I could do...

*See out of both eyes, because I'm blind in one eye.

*Sing in tune all the time. (Okay so sing in tune ... full stop!)

*Be really patient and zen like. (Good luck with that. Quick! Did you see that pig fly past the window?)

*Get a flat stomach (oops there goes another pig)

*Have more consistency with my crafting. Like getting started would help as well.

*Keep my house tidy all the time, not just that mad racing around because someone has knocked on the door, and the laundry is sitting in the middle of the stairs waiting to be escorted to its room.

*Be able to play the piano or guitar, because if I could hold a tune as well, imagine what I would be like at a party? You hum it, I'll play it!!

*Grow a few inches. Not much but 5ft 2, is really annoying when you have to take up every pair of pants you buy, and cropped ones just look like you have hemmed them a bit too much.

8 Shows I watch...

*Coronation Street

*Animal Rescue (Australian) or Animal House (NZ) or those Zoo ones.

*Underbelly - The Mr Asia Story- but just finished.

*24

*American Idol

*Celebrity Rehab (I know, I know - don't tell anyone though eh)

*Re-runs of Seinfield

*Chuck a whole load in from, Discovery Chanel, Nat Geo, and Crime Chanel.

Now looking at this you may be thinking. What a boring old bird. Well you are probably right!! I apologise for the double spacing that seems to have occured all on its own. I can't fix it because it's like 9.14 on Sunday morning I'm a bit tired, and Mr Busy is putting on the kettle because I have only had one cup of tea so far.

Now I know you are all standing by to be tagged, so you over there, stop trying to hide behind that other blogger.

Dear Fi

Ric Rac
Another Day in Paradise
Applique today
Pepperberry & Co

Princess Kirsty Jane

Okay this is only six bloggers, but time is of the essence here, and Im breaking rules all over the place, and I might get banished from blog land, but seriously folks, I'm sill in my dressing gown, and it's now 20 to ten and the school uniforms still aren't washed, never mind dried. And that messy house I was telling you about earlier? Suffice to say we could end up with a government department coming in here and shutting the whole place down

THE RULES:

Here's the rules, just in case you want to follow them:.
1. Mention the name of the person who tagged you.
2. Do the lists of 8.
3. Tag 8 bloggers of your choice.
4. Let them know that they have been tagged!

SO IF YOU HAVE BEEN NAMED IN THE ABOVE LIST ... YOUR'E IT!!

What a week...!

Its been an exciting week. This arrived from Dear Fi , and was a delight on a raining freezing day...

It is the Pay it Forward from a while back. From memory Fi, in fact Paid it Forward to everyone who commented. What an all round good egg! She is working her fingers to the bone, getting ready for Shows all over the place, and then "whips" up all these adorable little purses for about a hundred and ninety people. Also some lovely little note cards, which just seem too nice to use. Perhaps I shall put them on my wall and let them inspire me when I complain I have too much to do!! So Fi... thank you very much.
And then, I was scrolling through the blogs I stalk... er follow, and was reading jelly belly jelly brain, and lo and behold there was my face (more like ugly mug) on her blog. Not only that but I had won her giveaway!!! Which is a beautiful button necklace.
I am one lucky little blogger.

Its big Wednesday Lotto draw here tonight,and Im thinking I should have bought a ticket, but do you know I have been so lucky this week, that perhaps I should shift over and give someone else a go!
Speaking of lucky. Lucky for me I had just been out and bought some brown and beige felt. I had been scribbling a few softie ideas down, and then jnr Busy comes home and tells me that they have to take a 'donation' to school. Not more bleedin money I muttered, but no, its for their lovely student teacher Miss L (really hard to pronounce name) from the States who is heading back on Friday. It had to be something that was New Zealand. Like Pinapple Lumps

or Milo


which are pretty much Kiwi staples, especially when you live overseas, as my fellow Kiwi expat Joanna from Applique today will testify.

So in true, Crafty Kiwi spirit, I whipped up one of these whilst the beans and peas boiled their guts out on the stove, and the jacket potatoes shrivelled up in the oven...





And as Kiwi's are protected, I branded his little bum, so he could be tracked wherever in the world he goes...